Kasim Sumaina in Abuja
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has resumed its air ambulance operations after successfully embarking on routine maintenance and completion of all civil aviation requirements.
The resumption is coming on the heels of the global shortage of Jet-A1 fuel even as some airlines in the country find it difficult to operate.
NEMA spokesperson, Manzo Ezekiel, in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, noted that an official inaugural return flight was held as the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, and Director General, NEMA, Mustapha Habib Ahmed, were conveyed from Abuja to Dutse, Jigawa State on official engagement.
The statement disclosed that in 2014, NEMA introduced its first air ambulance for emergency healthcare.
According to it, “The airplane, which was launched at the Trauma Centre of the National Hospital, Abuja, was for quick transportation of patients with emergency cases.
“Captain Ibrahim Mamman, the then Chief Pilot and Head of the NEMA Special Wing Wing of the agency, said the project was part of the transformation agenda of the federal government of the time.
“The air ambulance can be used to transport patients with critical and traumatic health situation from anywhere the individual is.
“As a matter of fact, the jet can go anywhere in the world; it has the mile range of 3,000 miles.”
The statement further said: “However, in 2018, operations of the air ambulance service were grounded after it was due for routine maintenance and regulatory requirement.
“Following changes in leadership, repair of the aircraft was completed last year 2021 and returned from France. This year, the present management finalised all regulatory requirements in returning the aircraft to its ambulance operations.”
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